MIDDLE EAST: Thousands of Jewish worshippers pray at Western Wall as tensions mount in Jerusalem's Old City

Record ID: 860243

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Thousands of Jewish worshippers pray at Western Wall as tensions mount in Jerusalem's Old City
  • Date: 6th October 2009
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (OCTOBER 5, 2009) (REUTERS) WIDE OF PLAZA NEAR WESTERN WALL, WESTERN WALL AND DOME OF THE ROCK WESTERN WALL AND HUNDREDS OF JEWISH WORSHIPPERS GATHERED FOR PRAYERS GROUP OF ISRAELI SECURITY FORCES GATHERED ON STONE BRIDGE NEAR WESTERN WALL
  • Embargoed: 21st October 2009 13:00
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  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA3PLDQWRUS80HW60GT4CXUZPNP
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  • Story Text: Thousands of Israeli forces were deployed across Jerusalem's Old City on Monday (October 5), a day after Palestinians clashed with Israeli police who shut a compound housing Islam's third holiest site.
    Israeli security forces beefed up security as Jews attended prayers for the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles holiday at the Western Wall, a remnant of an ancient temple seen as Judaism's holiest site. It's located next to the mosque compound.
    "They do a blessing everyday throughout the year, but on the holidays it's a special occasion because everybody comes to the Western Wall, and all the priests together bless a crowd of tens of thousands of people, so everybody comes down for this special occasion, for all the high holidays, three times a year, and it's just a big occasion," Yoni Greenstein, one of the Jewish worshippers explained.
    Nine people were treated for minor injuries, including tear gas inhalation, after violence erupted in Jerusalem's Old City on Sunday (October 4), Palestinian medical officials said. An Israeli police spokesman said two policemen were injured and three protesters were arrested.
    Last week 30 people were injured during similar clashes near the al-Aqsa mosque and Palestinians warned of a possible new uprising.
    Adnan al-Husseini, the Palestinian-appointed governor of Jerusalem, said Israeli police had denied entry to the compound where the al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock shrine are located, though some worshippers stayed there overnight.
    Husseini said the situation is tense in the section of Arab East Jerusalem that Israel captured in 1967 and annexed as part of its capital in a move not recognised internationally.
    Israel eased these restrictions on Monday and allowed men from age 45 and above to enter the compound, according to Israeli media reports.
    But the compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount, where an ancient temple once stood, and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), had been "shut to visitors" Monday as a security precaution to avoid violence, Israeli police said.
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